The Mix TAPE
by CushionySiren3
Summary: When you throw a group of stupid, rowdy teens together they're bound to have far too many adventures to talk about in one story. The Mix TAPE is a collection of the miscellaneous comings and goings of Team TAPE which just don't fit in The (Un)Forgettable Team TAPE. Enjoy the idiocy.
1. Introduction

**Hey everybody,**

 **If you've decided to read this then you must be familiar with Team TAPE… Whhhaaaat? You're not?!**

 **Or you are, I can't hear very well through this computer.**

 **Well, if you're not, why don't you saunter on over to "The (Un)Forgettable Team TAPE" and give that a read before going any further.**

September 5th

Four weeks into the first semester

* * *

Tensions ran high between Automne and Eve. The sweltering air between them threatened to melt into a gooey substance, which most wouldn't believe air could melt into.

Eve's periwinkle eyes refused to look up at the boy. She heatedly ran them across the pages of her textbook, giving her best effort to ignore him.

Automne's squinted eyes squinted with an intensity that no pair of squinted eyes had ever reached before now. His smirk twisted his lips painfully as he held his finger less than an inch away from Eve's cheek. "Hey Eve," He said happily.

Eve gave a low growl.

"I'm not touching you." He giggled childishly.

"Automne," She said in a low voice.

"What?" Automne replied, struggling to not laugh. "I'm not touching you."

"Ty!" Eve whined, lowering her book so she could holler at her leader. "Make him stop."

"What, I'm not doing anything!" Automne shouted out, not letting his finger exit the wonderfully invasive spot beside Eve's cheek.

"Ty, he's in my personal space."

"You can't claim the air around your body as your property. I'm not doing anything wrong."

"Automne, stop it!"

"Stop what?!"

"Both of you, shut up or I'll lock you two in the closet." Ty threatened with a menacing pointed finger.

"You already locked Petunia in the closet though." Eve chirped weakly, trying to hold back her frustration with Automne and his hovering finger.

"Oh yeah… I forgot about that… Well, I'll find something else to lock you two in. Now, stop it."

Automne gave a half-hearted sigh and crossed his arms.

And so, the room fell silent… for all of a minute before Automne started the whole thing over again.

"Automne!"

"What?!"


	2. A Very Merry Team TAPE Halloween

October, 31st

12 weeks into the first semester

* * *

The sky outside of Team Taupe's dorm room window glows a vibrant orange as the sun slowly descends toward the horizon.

Inside of the room Ty lowers a lit candle into a large jack-o-lantern the letters T-A-P-E carved into it. Someone had also crudely scribbled a "U" between the A and P in marker, but considering it looked absolutely atrocious everyone chose to ignore it. Ty took a deep breath and marveled the sight of his team's jack-o-lantern for a moment before standing and dusting off the light tan jacket of his perfectly recreated Eren Jaeger costume.

"Uuuugh, dude." Automne groaned from his bed as he flipped through windows on his Scroll. Instead of his usual attire he was dressed in a light blue button-up, a pair of khakis, a simple yellow diamond print tie and a pair of comically geeky square frame glasses. "When're we going to leave? The party started like five minutes ago."

"We're just waiting on Petunia and Eve, man." He said with a small nod to the thick red curtain dividing their room as he carried the pumpkin over to their desk and set it down.

"Ugh, why do girls always take so long to get ready? I can get ready in five minutes and look fine. If I want to look fabulous, fifteen."

Petunia gave an amused chuckle as she walked around the curtain, her face, arms and legs sticking out of a large yellow banana. "Oh, please, you look like crap no matter how much you comb your hair or use that crappy body spray."

"Hey, New Spice is not crappy; it's awesome. Now, shut up." Automne demanded, staring at the ludicrously dressed girl from behind his fake glasses. "So... Are you just-"

"I'm a banana." Petunia said sternly with a slight eyebrow waggle.

"Yeah, that's where I thought we were going with this." Automne said flatly as he contemplated if the sweet embrace of death would ever take him from this cruel, painfully unfunny world.

"Hey, well at least I got cult, stoner comedy on my side. What are you supposed to be?" She said with a raised eyebrow as she walked over and flicked Automne's brown, slightly scuffed dress shoes.

"I am John from accounting. The one guy in the office everyone always seems to talk about, but no one ever sees around." Automne said happily as he adjusted his tie.

"That's stupid." Petunia said flatly with an unimpressed stare.

"Kind of have to agree; 'das stupid." Ty added as he sat down on his bed and joined the heckling.

"Oh, whatever, at least I don't rely on dated internet humor for a costume or... Whatever you are, Ty."

"Uncultured, pleb." Ty scoffed.

"I'm more cultured than cheese!" Automne retorted instantly.

Ty and Petunia stared at him, completely dumbstruck by his spontaneous, stupid outburst.

"Umm..." Petunia started as she searched for the proper words to describe the sheer amount of stupidity that Automne had just exposed them to.

"Okay," Eve's soft sweet voice chimed from behind the curtain. "I'm all set."

Automne gave a heavy sigh and swung his legs off of his bed as he pocketed his Scroll. "About time." he muttered under his breath as he straightened out his tie and brushed at a few wrinkled patches on his shirt.

"So, what do you guys think?" Giddiness gushing from Eve's voice as she stepped out from around the curtain to reveal her costume.

Automne's eyes hesitated for a moment, as he looked over his khakis, before his gaze swiftly darted to Eve. Electricity burst through his body and set his senses ablaze as she graced his eyes with her presence.

His brain began to go into shock as he tried to take in every detail. From her dark eye shadow and black lipstick making her eyes and lips pop out at him like a beautiful, other-worldly neon sign to her gothic boots and deep black stockings, clinging tightly to the subtle curvatures of her legs, he had become completely enamored. His heart pounded heavily against his ribcage as his stomach sloshed around in his gut. From her black and silver skirt, ending at mid-thigh, to her skin tight black top which ended just above her bust line she was encapsulating him. If it weren't for the fact that she were wearing a slender leather jacket Automne would have surely collapsed from sensory overload.

"You look nice." Ty responded promptly while Automne's mouth hung agape in the background.

"Yeah, you look good." Petunia concurred as she looked Eve up and down quickly.

"Automne," Automne's heart skipped a beat as Eve turned to him, her periwinkle eyes watching him with joyful anticipation. "How do I look?"

Automne swallowed hard. "Um... ah-umm." Automne cleared his throat heavily as he tried to restart his brain. "Umm... w-what?"

"My costume," Eve clarified cheerfully as she tugged on the sides of her skirt with a smile, her deep black gloves snuggly clinging to her delicate hands. "I'm a Goth girl. What do you think?"

"Umm, it's- uh... You're...," Automne rubbed at the back of his head and steadily eased his gaze away from Eve, his cheeks burning a bright red. "Umm, hey- uh, aren't we running late? I think we should get on down there, to the dance, before they- uh- close the doors or something."

Eve's warm smile quickly vanished from her face as unquenched curiosity filled her countenance. "Automne, are you-"

"We don't want to be late- I mean- like more late than we already are, because we already are late and it's not even like a fashionably late, it's like a late-late." Automne nervously rambled as he slipped his way past Petunia and Eve, avoiding eye contact all the while, made his way over to the door and quickly shuffled out of the room.

"Pfft," Petunia said with a wide smile. "Real smooth."

Eve didn't hear her though she was occupied in diligently looking over her dress. "Petunia," Eve started quietly, that is quieter than normal. "D-did I say something? Because Automne was acting… odd… it was like he didn't want to look at me... Did- did I do something to make him upset or-"

"Eve, Eve, Eve," Petunia said dismissively as she took Eve by the wrist and began to drag her along. "Don't worry about it; it's Automne. You probably just surprised him since you're not dressed like a prude."

Eve writhed uncomfortably as she tried to release her wrist from Petunia's grip. "I don't dress like a prude." She said with a hint of bitterness as she pulled her wrist away from her banana clad captor.

"Eve, if you dressed like a nun for a week none of us would notice." Ty added jollily as he closed the door to the room and matched their pace.

"Automne would probably notice." A sly smirk parted Petunia's lips as Ty gave a chuckle.

Eve looked between them in confusion. "What do you-"

"It's nothing Eve. I'm sure you'll catch on in a little while."

* * *

Pure unbridled excitement swept through Eve as she entered the festively decorated ballroom. A set of pulsating strobe lights sporadically painted the room vibrant shades of orange and purple. The ceiling and pillars were strewn with dark streamers and tattered, ghostly white clothes that swayed ominously when a draft flowed through the room. And most importantly of all the dance floor was absolutely abuzz with costumed students stepping and swaying to revamped Halloween classics.

Eve smiled jubilantly as she started to sway lightly to the music.

"I thought you were supposed to be a Goth?" Petunia said with a grin as she gave Eve a small nudge.

"Oh," Eve said in surprise as she quickly cleared her throat and folded her hands down in front of herself; a somber straight face replacing her joy. "Sadness, death, despair..." Eve murmured seriously, the façade only lasting a couple seconds before she burst into giggles.

"I'd give you a B for effort, but honestly I don't even think you earned that." She said with a patronizing pat on the shoulder "So, should we head over to the dance floor? 'Cause I can't wait to show off my banana power." Petunia said as she made her best attempt to look seductive while shaking around in a banana costume.

"Not yet," Ty said dismissively as he looked around the room. "Let's go find Automne. He sent me a text saying he's sitting over at the tables." He said giving a nod to some tightly packed round tables to the left of the dance floor.

"Ugh, what a killjoy. Alright let's go find the spaz." Petunia remarked bitterly as she made her way towards the tables.

Anxiety welled in Eve's appearance. "Ty, d-do you think Automne was acting strange earlier?"

"Eve, you're going to have to be a lot more specific than that." Ty said lightheartedly as they eased their way around small clusters of students.

"I mean back at the room, he didn't want to look at me and he kept avoiding talking about my costume. Do you think he hates it?" Worry dripping from her voice like wet paint as she looked down at her skirt and stockings.

Ty gave a sigh, "Eve, I'm sure he doesn't hate it. He's just... Bad at being a normal person. He's like a deer, kind of, you probably just spooked him. Give him a little while and he'll warm up to it... and then we'll kill him and mount his head on the wall."

Eve blinked a few times, unsure if this had actually set her at ease or not, but that really didn't matter considering the fact that Automne had just come into eyesight. He was sitting at a small round table holding his fake glasses in one hand and rubbing his face with the other.

Eve quickly made her way over to the table, making an effort to stand directly across from Automne. "Hi Automne," Eve said with a soft, warm smile and slightly uneasy eyes.

Automne spread his fingers and cast a small glance out at Eve for a moment before his eyes darted elsewhere. "Umm, hey, Eve..." A clearly nervous and seemingly pre-occupied Automne muttered as he took his hand off his face and put his glasses back on.

"Are you all right?" Eve asked as she walked over and pulled up a chair next to Automne's, causing him to noticeably tense up. "You ran off earlier and-"

"Is anyone thirsty? I'll go get us all some punch. I heard that it's good punch. Usually punch isn't great, but this stuff is supposed to be good." Automne rambled as he quickly rose out of his chair and swiftly backed away from Eve. "Hey, Ty, how about you help me get some punch. I only have two hands and Petunia will probably want punch and you know how it goes, bro." Automne finished with forced laughter and a look that said _'for the love of all that is holy, take the damn hint'_.

Ty gave a heavy sigh, shoving the chair he had just pulled out back under the table, "Fine,"

"Yo, what'd I miss?" Petunia said lackadaisically as she walked up eating a banana.

"Automne's an idiot."

"Yeah, what else's new?" Petunia said with a chuckle as Ty trudged off after Automne.

Eve gave a soft sigh as she watched the two walk away and disappear in the bustling crowd.

Petunia slowly came to a halt in the chewing of her banana and stared at Eve. "Hey, Eve, uuuuh, you alright?"

"Yes, I'm just thinking about something..." Eve said distantly as she stared at the table.

"Oh," Petunia continued to chew her banana with a blank look in her eyes; that is until a mischievous smirk crossed her lips, "Hey Eve, do you like sea-food?"

Eve blinked a couple times, "Well, I suppose it's alright. Why-"

"Blah." Petunia garbled as she opened her mouth wide and displayed the mushed mess that was her banana.

"Petunia!" Eve exclaimed in disgust as she held her hands up over her eyes.

 _(Meanwhile)_

"So, why're you being a complete ass?" Ty asked nonchalantly as he ladled punch into a red plastic cup.

"I'm not being an ass, I'm just... keeping to myself." Automne said guiltily as he swirled the punch around in his cup.

"Yeah, well you're really upsetting Eve, you know that right? She thinks you hate her costume."

"I don't hate her costume." Automne stated matter-of-factly as he stared intently into his cup. "... Hey, uh, Ty... What uh, what do you think of Eve's costume?"

"I think she looks nice. It's nothing special." Ty said dryly as he filled up a third cup for himself. "Why, what do you think of it?"

"Oh," Automne muttered tensely. "Well- yeah, I guess it's not anything insane- yeah, but uhh," Automne cleared his throat. "Yeah, uh- yeah she looks- uh- very," Automne cleared his throat again, "Beautiful," He rapidly muttered before taking a swig of punch.

Ty stopped ladling and slowly turned to Automne a large smirk slowly spreading across his mouth. "What was that?"

"Bite me." Automne responded without hesitation as he stared at the bottom of his cup.  
"I'm telling." Ty said with an extreme amount of amusement as he began to walk away with cups of punch in hand.

"Nononono please please please please please don't!" Automne pleaded as he chased after Ty.

"Dude, I don't think she'll go crazy over a little compliment."

"No, it's not that- well, not just that- it's- uhhh, look just please don't tell her, okay?"

Ty paused for a second as if he was experiencing some kind of groundbreaking revelation. "What, is this like your fetish or-"

"Dude! Please!" Automne begged.

"Alright, fine, just don't come whining to me about any drama later." Ty said in slight annoyance as he took a sip from his cup. "Also you lied, this punch is crap."

"Yeah... It is pretty bad..." Automne conceded weakly. Automne fell silent for the rest of the walk back to the table quietly moping. When Eve came into sight between shifting members of the crowd he took a deep breath and forced a smile onto his face."Heeey, we're back." Automne droned in an attempt to seem like he wasn't being awkward and unsociable as he walked up and set a cup of punch down in front of Eve.

"Where'd you two go?" Petunia inquired as she pulled another banana from the leg hole of her costume and began to peel it.

"Automne thought we should all have some punch." Ty said with a clearly forced, annoyed smile as he passed one of his cups of punch to Petunia.

"Well, why wouldn't we all want to have some punch, right? It's a dance and that's what people do at a dance right, drink punch... and dance." Automne finished nervously as he glanced over Eve from the corner of his eyes who was contently sipping punch, her black lips glistening lightly under the bright strobes. His cheeks swiftly caught fire and his face burned bright red as he silently watched a small smile cross her lips.

"Thank you for the punch, Automne." Eve chimed graciously as she beamed at Automne causing him to recoil and quickly avert his gaze.

"Umm- n-no problem, Eve." He weakly muttered as he stared down into his already emptied cup.  
Eve blinked a few times, distress in her gaze as she looked at the unreasonably asocial boy. "Automne did I-"

Petunia gave a loud gasp, cutting off Eve, as the DJ switched tracks.

"Holy crap, this is my jam!" Petunia shouted as she jumped out of her chair and ran out to the dance floor.

There was a momentary pause before Eve too gave a surprised gasp and rose out of her chair. "I love this song." She cheered jubilantly as she swayed back and forth to the beat, her skirt lightly swaying with her. "Automne, we should go dance." Eve suggested as she beamed down at him, her emotions once again clashing with her costume.

Automne glanced up at her nervously, his eyes swiveling around the room, only occasionally returning back to Eve. His mouth was almost as dry as paper as she looked down at him and softly batted her eyes. "I- I, uh," Her smile fading quickly as he tried to compose himself "Well-uh- here's the thing I, uh, actually just saw some friends and I should probably go say hi to them."

"Friends, but I thought we were your only friends?" Eve said innocently.

"... Okay first of all, that was rude." Automne stated, slightly offended by this harsh, but undeniably true statement "Second, you don't know them. I hang out with them when you guys aren't around."

"Aren't around?" Ty chuckled, "We live in the same room."

"Yeah, well... I'm just gonna go say hi." Automne said dismissively as he rose and began to walk backwards.

Eve shuffled slightly in place as she watched Automne back away. "Well, um, maybe I can come with you and-"

"No! I mean no, don't worry about it Eve. Go have fun and I'll- I'll just catch up in a bit." He said with a nervous smile before he speed walked off in a different direction.

Eve gave a soft sigh as she watched him walk away.

* * *

Automne tentatively glanced around a group of students to make sure that Eve wouldn't be able to see him, images of her lovely, but miserable face still running through his head.

Automne gave a heavy sigh and leaned back against a wall. "I'm an ass."

"I would say you are more of a coward, even in this regard, but I do not feel inclined to disagree with you on this." Sienaerde smugly replied as she walked up and stood next to him, sporting a foreign military uniform of some sort.

"Oh... great, like my evening wasn't bad enough." Automne said dryly as he glared at her.

"Well, if it helps to alleviate you, the vast majority of your problems stem from your own emotional instabilities rather than your social ineptitude, but I can assure you, your ineptitude is a prominent factor in the vast majority of all your strife." An arrogant smile twisting her lips as she held her hands behind her back like some sort of master villain lecturing a child.

"I swear to Dust you eat thesauruses with every meal." Automne grumbled under his breath. "What do you want?"

Sienaerde gave a small chuckle, "I just wanted to tell you that your skills as a huntsmen are pathetic, but they're nowhere near as dreadful as your miserable, and frankly embarrassing, display of failing to court a woman. So rest assured you are reaching new lows in every walk of life with each passing day."

"Do I even want to know how you know about-"

"I was following you, but even if I weren't your less than subtle body language and lack of tact could be spotted from across the ballroom."

"Well, this talk has completely justified why I hate you. Now, if you'll excuse me I have to go be miserable somewhere else." Automne said with a grimace as he began to walk away.

"That's unfortunate, I haven't even insulted your low-budget costume yet."

"You are just Dust awful... Speaking of which what is your costume anyways?" Automne asked out of curiosity as he glanced her up and down from her black leather boots to hat.

"I'm an SS Officer." She said with a disgusting amount of pride as she clicked her heels together and gave a salute with an out stretched arm.

Automne stopped and stared at her, his mouth hanging open a bit as he registered what she had just said. " D-did we just broke the fourth wall so you could be a Nazi?"

"Ja," She remarked shamelessly as she stared at him with an unnerving amount of glee.

Automne blinked a couple times. "You are just a Dust awful person... I'm going to walk away now and pretend that I've never met you."

"One day we shall eradicate all of the Faunus schwein and unite the great Kingdoms under a true and pure flag!" Sienaerde shouted before bursting into maniacal laughter.

"Goodbye, crazy person." Automne muttered before quickly shuffling away while covering his face from on looking passers-by.

 _(Shortly after the craziness)_

"Where've you been?" Ty called out from the table as a clearly unnerved Automne pulled out his seat.

"Hell... I've been in hell." Automne removed his glasses and did a tired face-palm. "Where's Eve at?" He groaned as he rubbed his eyes to the point that he could only see glowing dots.

"I convinced her to go dancing." Ty said from behind the rim of his cup. "You know she's-"

"Not having a good time and it's all my fault and I should feel bad. Save it," Automne gave a heavy sigh. "I already do." Automne pressed the palms of his hands against his eyes. "Auuuuugh why do emotions suck so much?!" Automne groaned as he stomped his feet against the ground.

"Because you're immature and don't know how to act like a man." Ty said curtly as he rocked back and forth in his chair.

Automne slid his face down his hands and rested his chin on the table. "I hate you."

"No, you don't." Ty said flatly as he took another sip of his punch, grimacing at the red plastic receptacle in disdain.

"Ey, we're back." Petunia said, beaming like an idiot as she walked up and collapsed into her chair.

Automne tensed up and tried to avert his gaze as Eve followed shortly after breathing heavily with a few beads of sweat running down her face.

"That was fun." Eve said cheerfully, picking up her cup and casting a glance over to Automne. "Maybe we can all go back out there in a little." she suggested with a warm smile aimed directly at Automne.

"Umm," Automne started, nervously watching Eve from the corner of his eyes. "Well, I-I don't know. Maybe in a little whi-whi-whi-whiiiii-" Automne stammered in shock as Eve removed her jacket. His mouth fell open and his face began to turn crimson as he admired a full view of Eve's pale white shoulders and her long, velvety black gloves that stretched the length of her forearms and crawled half-way up her supple, lean biceps. "Eve, you should put your jacket back on!" Automne shouted as he quickly turned away to prevent himself from dropping his gaze to the horribly low bust line of her dress.

Eve looked down at her dress in concern while Ty and Petunia just glared at Automne.

"I'm sorry." Eve said weakly, forcing Automne to guiltily turn back to her. "I am dressed rather...indecently. I should probably go-"

"Wait!" Automne shouted as he jumped up and held his palm out at Eve, who had started to rise from her chair. "Umm... I didn't mean 'put your jacket on' in a bad way, I meant- umm, I was trying to..."

Automne was drawing a blank as his eyes darted around from Eve, to the dance floor, to a cameraman standing near the door to- Automne gave a small gasp. "Iiii was going to say we should go take some pictures together!" Automne shouted triumphantly as if he didn't just stumble through his excuse like a drunkard in a field of land mines.

Eve gave a large gasp, a large smile quickly washing away her fears. "We completely forgot to take pictures together." She steadily rose out of her chair, slipped her jacket back over her arms, tossed her hair over the back and eagerly bounced in place. "Come on, let's go get a few pictures." Eve cheered happily as she made her way over towards the cameraman.

"Smooth save," Petunia said sarcastically as she rolled off the side of her chair and stumbled to her feet. "What's next, are you going to get her to jog around the campus?"

"Hey, I had to improvise."

"Don't be so hard on him, Petunia." Ty said calmly as they all began to walk across the room. "Some people prefer a physical image when we're getting off." Ty said with a suggestive grin and a painful nudge into Automne's ribs.

"It's not like that!" Automne growled through his teeth as they pushed past a small group of huntsmen.

"Whatever you need to tell yourself in public man. Just try not to glaze those khakis." Petunia egged on with a toothy smirk.

"I think he already did. Did you see the look on his face when she took off her jacket?"

Automne gave an exhausted groan as they rejoined Eve, who was still bouncing enthusiastically. "I really hope you two catch fire in a training room accident."

"Automne, that's not very nice." Eve said softly as a couple in front of them walked away contently with arms wrapped around each other.

Automne flinched as Eve watched him intently, her soft eyes glowing at him amongst her eye shadow like shiny gemstones. "Erm, yeah, I was just... I was joking. I mean, I never really-"

"Next," The portly cameraman called out to the team.

"Oh, thank Dust." Automne blurted out, making Eve turn back to him in confusion. "I mean... Thank Dust that we're finally up! I mean was that line long or what? Ahehehehe… anybody?"

Everyone, including the cameraman, blankly stared at Automne.

"Alright, let's move it along folks." The cameraman said suddenly after shaking off Automne's awkwardness. "Now, let's get the ladies together for the first one.

"I hope you enjoy leftovers." Petunia said with a smirk as she smacked Automne's chest with the back of her hand.

Automne gave a groan as Eve and Petunia stepped in front of a festive backdrop. "Gah, why do you two have to be dicks and make this weird?"

"Because you're such a bitch; you make it too much fun." Ty responded indifferently as Petunia and Eve struck a couple of quirky poses. "Also you're the one makin' it weird, dude. The rest of us are trying to have a good time."

Automne gave a heavy sigh. "Dust, I hate you."

"Love you too, but how about channeling all those pent-up emotions at your girlfriend?"

"Alright and now the gents." The cameraman called out prompting both Ty and Automne to step forward in front of the backdrop.

"She's not my girlfriend." Automne hissed under his breath as he spun around and pointed a finger gun at Ty's head with a smirk for the camera. Ty simply responded with a bright smile and returned the gesture.

"Aww, you two look cute together!" Petunia shouted from the side as the cameraman snapped the picture.

"Alright, now how about a couple of you all together."

"Oh, what kind of pose should we do?" Eve loudly whispered as she happily jogged back in front of the camera. "Should we go for a group pose where we all do the same thing or maybe a silly one where we all do goofy faces or-"

"How about we pose like our costumes?" Ty suggested cheerfully as Automne still struggled to maintain eye contact with Eve while Petunia took a bite out of yet another banana.

"That sounds perfect!" Eve called back cheerfully before taking a deep breath and pouting at the camera.

Automne gave a small chuckle and pretended to adjust his tie for the camera as he watched Eve pretend to be a moody, self-centered Goth girl from the corner of his eye. It was actually a rather gentle moment as the camera flashed and captured what seemed like the most harmonious point of the evening.  
Automne gave a content sigh as he stared at the back of Eve's head as she broke character and returned to swaying lightly with a large smile.

"Now, how about a couple of you two together?" The cameraman suggested cheerfully as he pointed to Automne and Eve.

"Wait, what?" Automne sputtered completely dumbstruck by the sudden shift from a nice peaceful little photoshoot to an unholy nightmarish photoshoot from the most awkward pits of hell.

"Sure," Eve said happily as Petunia and Ty stepped out of the frame, but not before Ty intentionally shoved Automne closer to Eve.

"Wait, I'm not-"

"Automne," Eve's sweet voice chimed as she turned to him, her hands clasped together as she looked up at him with big eyes. "Please."

Automne could slowly feel his soul being sapped out by Eve's gaze. Her moon white eyes staring out at him from behind her periwinkle contacts. "Al-alright." Automne surrendered as he looked down at her with bright red cheeks.

Eve gave him a warm smile.

"Alright, so Miss, you turn around and you, young man place your hands on the lady's waist."

Automne's heart skipped a beat as Eve turned around and backed up against him, a slightly uncomfortable smile stretched across her lips.

His heart began to pound and beat against him like a mad drummer. His arms felt like lead as he slowly raised them and tentatively placed his hands on Eve's hips. The fabric of her clothes brushed against his softly as the camera flashed, capturing a snap shot of Automne holding Eve from the side. He began to breathe heavily as he turned his face into Eve's dark silky hair; her sweet fragrance wafting over him like warm water.

His eyelids began to grow heavy as a warm smile crossed his face. It was only a matter of seconds before he gave into his senses and gently wrapped his arms around Eve's waist. He pulled her closer and let his breath slowly flow past his lips. Silence fell upon him for a few brief moments until Eve responded.

"Automne," Eve's voice said softly. He opened his eyes and realized his face was resting against the back of her head, her dark hair shrouding him from the rest of the world. "A-a-are you-"

Automne quickly released his arms from around Eve's waist and stepped backwards; channeling his semblance he faded out of visibility.

Eve turned around and swept the room quickly to see that Automne was nowhere in sight. "Au-Automne?"

* * *

Automne tossed and turned in his bed restlessly as images of Eve clad in gothic clothing strutted through his mind. Chills ran up and down his body, his eyes transfixed on her smooth pale skin and her luscious black lips. Automne let out a whimper as she cast him a look of disdain and began to slowly walk away. His lips quivered and his eyes flooded with tears as his body began to crumble away into orange and brown leaves.

"Rise and shine, dude." Ty's voice rang out through his crumbling dystopia as cold water splashed against his face.

Automne jumped up in bed sputtering, his face and sheets sopping wet as Ty lifted a bottle of water to his lips and took a sip. Automne gave Ty a spiteful glare as his leader swished the water around in his mouth and swallowed.

"I didn't expect you to sleep in for so long. You know, since you were already asleep by the time we got back." Ty said with furrowed eyebrows as he began to cross the room towards one of their desks.  
Automne gave a heavy sigh and ran his hands over his face a few times to wipe away some of the water.

"Was Eve-"

"Confused? Upset? Able to enjoy the rest of the evening? Yes, yes and hell no."

Automne gave a heavy sigh and hugged his knees. "I'm an ass." He muttered to himself.

"Yes, you are, also it looks like you're a pizza face today." Ty said curtly as he walked over and held a small mirror to Automne's face.

Automne stared into the mirror his miserable, acne riddled face looking back at him. He gave a heavy groan and fell back into his soaked pillow. "I break out when I'm stressed."

"Well, I guess you deserve it then." Ty responded dryly as he glared down at Automne.

"Piss off man, I'm having a hard time already."

"Eve didn't look like she was little miss sunshine when she woke up this morning either, man"

Automne's eyes shot open and his head popped back off the bed. "Where's Eve at? I need to go apologize, like right now."

Ty stopped for a moment pulled his sleeve back and looked at a wristwatch. "She went down to breakfast with Petunia over a half-hour ago. She'll probably be coming back up here in a few."

Automne gave a sigh and rolled off his bed. "Well then, I guess I better make myself presentable." Automne slurred miserably as he shuffled over to the end of his bed and pulled his sweater out from under it. "Can I borrow some cover-up man?"

"Maybe after you apologize." Ty shot back sternly as he sat down on his bed.

"That's mature." Automne grumbled to himself as he pulled his sweater down over his wet t-shirt. "Pants." Automne stated like a spoiled brat as he waited for Ty to toss him his pair of cargo pants from the floor.

Ty took a second before giving the appropriate response and chucking the pants directly at his head, the buckle from his belt smacking directly into his face.

Automne stumbled back before gaining his footing and turning to Ty with a serious look in his eye. "Rude,"

"We're back!" Petunia shouted half-heartedly as she threw the door open.

Automne gave a heavy sigh as he quickly tried to put on his pants. "Good morning, Petunia. Good morn-" Automne froze up as he turned his attention to Eve who was standing in the doorway still dressed as a Goth. "Umm, g-good morning, Eve." Automne stuttered in shock as he looked Eve up from her Gothic boots and jet black thigh high socks to her emblem emblazoned black tank-top mostly covered by the same dark jacket from last night.

Eve gave Automne a warm smile. "Good morning, Automne."

"Yeah, umm, morning- Eve, you're uh, still wearing... Goth." Automne mustered as he weakly pointed at Eve's clothes, her eyes shining brightly at him from behind her glasses.

"Oh, yeah, my jacket and pants got stained earlier, so I changed into this." Eve said with a small smile as she lightly tugged on the sides of her skirt.

"Oh, w-well, it certainly..." Automne's cheeks began to turn a dark shade of red as he quickly averted his gaze. "SO, uh-hey I-uh I think I should go down and maybe get some breakfast."

"Okay, are we still going to go to the library in a little while?" Eve said with a large sweet smile, prompting Automne to cringe.

"Umm, I- uh I don't know."

In an instant Eve's smile was swept away. Her eyes quivered a bit as she tried to force a smile back onto her lips. "B-but you said you were going to help me study today." Eve stopped and looked down at her clothes. "Automne, if this is about the way I'm dressed-"

"Hey, look at the time they're totally going to stop serving breakfast soon. I should get down there." Automne said in a rush as he quickly made for the door, gently stepping around Eve before he bailed into the hall.

"Wait, Automne!" Eve softly called out as Automne quickly walked down the hall.  
Eve paused for a few moments as she stared down at her boots.

Petunia looked back over to Ty and shook her head. "Hey, Eve, I'll go study with you. Forget Automne, he's being-"

"A liar." Eve's sweet voice chimed with an uncharacteristically deep intensity. She quickly spun around and raised her fiery gaze to Petunia. "Automne has been lying and running away and it's all because of these clothes! I'm going to get him to tell me the truth and I'm going to use these clothes to do it!" Eve shouted as she balled her hands into fists. "Petunia grab my purse, please! We need to go to the mall!"

Petunia shuddered a bit and held her hands up defensively. "A-alright Eve, let's just keep our cool, 'kay."

"Hmm," Ty hummed nonchalantly, "As leader I should probably say something." Ty briskly walked over to his bed and pulled out a manga from under it. He threw himself onto his bed and flipped open the book. "Eh, I'll let them sort this out."

* * *

Automne gave a heavy sigh as he rubbed his forehead across his open textbook. He had the dorm all to himself and he was making the most of it by sighing and wallowing in his own pity. He rolled his head across the paper and turned over onto his cheek to see his half complete assignment lying next to his textbook.

"Probably would have finished by now if I decided to go with Eve." He muttered to himself as he tried to imagine a scenario of them sitting together in the library where he didn't embarrass himself and look like a complete jackass. Automne let out a heavy groan and threw his head back. "Ugggh, stupid socially awkward idiot."

Automne stopped berating himself as a chill flowed through his body. A second later the tumblers to the door clicked loudly as someone began to push it open. Automne quickly scooted forward in his seat, grabbed his pencil and pretended to look like he was working diligently.

The hair on the back of his neck stood on end as a long haired, dark figure slowly stepped into the room.

"Hello Automne." Eve's soft, captivating voice rang in his ears as he continued to stare down at his paper. Eve stared down at him as she confidently strutted over and stood behind him. "I missed you at the library." Her delicate voice cutting into him like a razor as she bent down and whispered into his ear.

"I-uh- I actually missed the – breakfast, so I had to wait for lunch." Automne lied as the feeling of Eve's soft breathing on the back of his neck threatened to drive him wild.

"That sounds awful." An irregular, and almost insulting, amount of insincerity heavy in her tone as she stepped forward into the corner of Automne's eye, spun around gracefully, and sat herself on the corner of the desk.

Automne's heart began to pound in his ears thunderously as he ever so slightly turned to stare at her black knee socks which clung tightly to her long smooth legs. Automne bit into his tongue as he began to trail his eyes up her creamy thighs which all too suddenly disappeared under the ruffles of her skirt.

"Automne," Eve seductively whispered as she pushed aside Automne's textbook. "Last night, you never told me how I looked."

Automne's face burned like lava as his gaze slowly rose up across a bold silver and black corset which hugged Eve's slender figure tightly.

"Automne,"

His heart came to a stop as he met her gaze. Her soft periwinkle eyes looking down into his from amidst a flourish of dark eye shadow, her lipstick his vibrant shade of yellow. "How do I look?"

Automne quickly bolted up from his seat causing Eve to jump off the table.

"No, we are going to-" Eve started before Automne quickly swept her off her feet and into his arms resulting in Eve quickly turning a bright pink. "No, no, no, no, no, put me down!" Eve protested as he turned around and began to carry her towards his bed. "No! Automne, stop! I- I was just-"

"Trying to get me to tell you why I've been avoiding you?" Guilt heavy in his voice as he set her down on the edge of the bed.

Eve immediately attempted to scurry across the bed away from him, but Automne quickly grabbed her by the wrist and sat down next to her. Eve tugged against his grip as her eyes darted across the room in panic. "H-how-"

"Eve, you are a terrible bluffer." Automne said with a grin, still hesitating to look directly at her.  
Automne gave a few chuckles and released Eve's wrist; which she ripped away and hugged tightly.

Eve tried to do her best attempt at giving Automne an infuriated glare as she tried to compose herself. "W-well?"

Automne gave a heavy sigh, "Do I really have to tell you?" He said nervously; still averting his eyes.

"Mhmm," Eve confirmed with an aggressive nod.

Automne gave another sigh. "Well, it's... I don't know how to... "Automne gave another heavy sigh and looked directly into Eve's soft eyes; occasionally glancing away in fright.

"Eve... You're... very pretty, and that's- that's kind of awkward, because you're my best friend and that just… it feels wrong to say that to you because... well, it's you and I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable around me like I'm just being a creep."

"... Oh," Surprise evident in Eve's voice as her cheeks glowed a warm pink. She swiftly looked away from Automne and down at her knees, her hands pressed tightly against her chest. "So..." Eve started cautiously as her eyes glanced between her knees and Automne's. "I-is that why you don't like it when I dress this way?"

"What? No, Eve I-" Automne gave a heavy sigh and rubbed at his neck as he turned away. "I think you look kind of... very… beautiful when you dress this way. I just- it- it just doesn't feel like you though. You feel like a completely different girl, like... the kind who-" Automne glanced around, gave a heavy sigh and ran his hands through his hair. "Make me nervous..."

Eve blinked a few times before turning to Automne, concern deep in her eyes. "Why do I make you nervous?"

"I don't know... M-maybe because you're not dressed like a prude."

"I don't dress like a prude." Eve huffed as she puffed her chest out.

"Eve, you regularly wear a button-up shirt and slacks. You wear sleeping gloves, Eve. _**Sleeping gloves**_ ," Automne stressed as he gestured back towards her side of the room. "And I'm not even going to start about how you freak out if anyone touches you for more than three seconds."

Eve blushed brightly and attempted to curl up into a ball. "W-well people should respect my body." Eve whined as tears began to bud in the corners of her eyes.

A smirk crossed Automne's lips, "Alright then, I'll just have to make sure to attract twice as much attention as you, so no one will violate you with their eyes." Eve gave Automne a warm, but stressed, smile, "So, uh Eve are- are you going to be... dressing this way more often?"

Eve gave a small sigh. "I don't think so. Boys have been trying to flirt with me all day." Eve perked up slightly as an idea smacked into her. "Do you think they would bother me if we dyed all the silver on my clothes yellow like your clothes? I've seen a few girls wearing their teammate's colors before and they never seem to have that problem."

Automne turned to Eve in shock. "Uh, Eve, um- t-that's an old huntsmen tradition where-uh... Huntsmen will do that to show that they're engaged."

Eve froze up at this previously unknown information and hastily scooted away from Automne, her cheeks burning an almost neon pink.

A smirk began to sprout on Automne's face. "You know, if you want to propose you can just say it. Who knows, maybe I'll say yes."

Eve gave a loud moan and scooted further up the bed.

"Alright, no need to get flustered." Automne mocked with a chuckle. "Now," Automne raised his fist out to the girl. "Are we good?"

Eve glanced over at his hand and without a second thought extended her own fist and gave him a small bump. Eve gave a small giggle, "We're good." Automne and Eve jubilantly smiled at each other for a short time before Eve breathed a sigh of relief. "Now that that's settled I'm going to go change into something less... promiscuous."

Eve made to get up, but was immediately pulled back down onto the bed by her wrist.

"Hold on!" Automne shouted nervously as he once again struggled to maintain eye contact. "Umm... do you think you could wear it for just a little while longer?"

Eve blinked in astonishment as Automne eased her back onto the bed. "Umm, well... I suppose I could"

"Great," Automne cheered as he bent down and began to remove Eve's boots.

"What're you-"

"You should get comfortable. Lay down for a while, let me do your homework or something. It's my way of saying sorry." Automne said with a large smile as he pulled her boots off and lifted her feet up onto the bed; all to the chorus of Eve moaning in distress. "Oh, calm down. Now, do you need anything; snacks, water, massage~"

Eve's eye's widened as the last word left Automne's mouth. "M-ma-massage?"

"Yeah, a massage," Automne placed a hand on Eve's knee. "And afterwards you can strip down for me so I can," Automne moved in close, his hand gently running up her thigh as he pulled aside her curtain of hair to expose her ear. "Dye your clothes."

Eve let out a loud shriek and rolled off Automne's bed as he broke out laughing.

"You're awful!" Eve whined as she curled up on the floor.

Automne gave a sigh and sat on the bed with a large smile, "Yeah, I know"

* * *

 **Why can't every day be Halloween?**

 **-CS**


	3. Breakfast of Champions

September

Five weeks into the first semester

* * *

The morning sun softly fell into Team Taupe's dorm-room and came to a rest upon a positively exuberant Eve. The almost whimsical girl was sitting on her bed, happily eating a Pop-Tart. A wide smile stretched across her face as she savored the pastry and all its sugary goodness.

Stepping into the room, Automne walks up and sits down next to her on the bed. "Well, someone looks happy." Her infectious happiness spurring a purely ebullient smile out of him.

Eve gave a small giggle. "I just woke up on the right side of the bed today." She said cheerfully before taking another bite of her treat; covering her mouth with crumbs and a dab of jam.

Beaming, Automne gave a chuckle "You're eating like a little pig. You got crumbs all over you."

Eve blushes and tries to wipe the crumbs away. "Did I get it?" She asked in embarrassment, only a few flecks of crumbs remaining next to the corner of her mouth.

"Actually," Automne starts as he leans forward and lightly brushes the crumbs away with his thumb. "You missed a spot."

Eve's cheeks slowly began to turn a warm pink as Automne lightly brushed his fingers across her skin. In an instant her pupils narrowed to nothing more than small, jittery dots. A warm sensation started to bubble in her chest and her eyes shook like leaves in the wind as Automne cradled her face in his hand and scooted closer. His hips brushed against hers gently as he leaned in close, their lips mere centimeters apart. Eve's breathing grew unsteady as she stared into his hazel eyes, completely enraptured. Her lips quivered nervously as he took her hand. Slowly, she began to close her eyes.

"Well, it looks like I got all of it." Automne said suddenly, a large smirk on his face as he quickly stood up and walked away.

Eve paused for a moment. "Eh-wha-huh- W-wait!" Eve held out her hand toward Automne and quickly realized her Pop-Tart is no longer there. She quickly whipped her head around in search of her missing pastry. "Where'd my Pop-Tart go?!" She let out a gasp and balled her dainty hands into fists. "Automne, you jerk!" Her cheeks a bright shade of crimson as she jumps to her feet and chases after the Pop-Tart thief.


	4. An Uncanonical New Year's Party

January 1st

20 weeks into the first semster

* * *

"3… 2… 1! Happy New Year!" The crowd amassed at the Vale city plaza chanted in unison as the clock hit midnight.

The members of Team TAPE jumped and cheered in unison as fireworks set the sky ablaze with color.

"Whooo, happy New Year!" Eve screamed joyfully as she bounced in place beside Automne.

Automne laughed at her hollering and gave her a small nudge. "You're going to be so hoarse tomorrow!" He chuckled, trying to shout over the wild crowd at the same time.

"Automne, it's the New Year!" Eve cheered, now rocking beside him energetically. She beamed at him warmly, her periwinkle eyes glowing under the amber party lights.

"I know!" Automne shouted with a warm smile, pocketing his hands. "Happy New Year, Eve."

Eve gave an almost inaudible giggle. "Happy New Year, Automne." Eve gave a few absent-minded blinks as the surrounding crowd vigorously surged and bobbed. "Where're Ty and Petunia? They were here a minute ago."

"I don't know, maybe they… oh." Automne gasped in surprise. He pulled his hands from his pockets to awkwardly scratch at his face.

"What?"

"Ummmm… that." Automne gestured in shock. His pointed finger directing Eve to Ty and Petunia who were quite occupied in the act of tongue kissing. Automne took a moment to glance around at the crowd around them where dozens of others were brushing up on their tongue-wrestling. Except for one man in a seafoam green hoodie who was kissing his left hand.

Eve gave an audible gasp. Her cheeks burning a bright pink as she averted her eyes from her teammate's intimate display of affection. "I… I forgot about this custom." Eve shyly admitted as she tried to avoid looking Automne in the eye.

"Yeah… It's-uh… I forgot about it too." His eyes scampering around every centimeter surrounding Eve. His tan cheeks had quickly begun to turn a rosy red. "So… umm… Sh-should we…"

"I-I-It's just a custom, we don't have to-" Eve reasoned, playing with some of her hair.

"Yeah, customs are goofy anyways, I mean seriously where did that even start?" Automne agreed, running his fingers through his hair.

The two fell silent while the party around them continued to rage. As random citizens cheered and danced Automne and Eve's eyes, while scampering across each other, met.

Eve fidgeted nervously, her gloved fingers twirling strands of hair as she bit into her bottom lip.

A cold sweat began to form on Automne's head. As it threatened to drip down across his skin a spark popped in his brain. Slowly, Automne took a small breath as his mind conjured up an idea. "Eve, uh…"

"Yes?" Fear flickering behind her glasses.

"How abo- Why don't-" Automne stopped. At a lack for words he extended his arms out toward the dark haired girl. "Hug it out?" He asked, his arms wide open.

Eve stared at him fondly as bright red fireworks illuminated the sky above them. Without hesitation she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. Her glasses rubbing and scraping against her face as she pressed herself against his chest.

Eve's warmth and sweet scent flowed through Automne as he rested his chin on the top of her head. He gave a content sigh as the vibrations of Eve's heart shook him gently.

"… Okay, that's enough!" Eve pleaded, releasing her hold and writhing in protest.

"Of course," Automne chuckled, releasing her from his arms as if she were a caged bird.

Eve stepped back quickly and readjusted her glasses. A soft smile sat upon her lips as she looked to the ground and shuffled her feet. "Automne," She whispered, inching herself closer. "That was-"

"Noire!" A familiar, stern voice called out from the crowd.

Breezing past his lips like steam Automne released a groan. "Sienaerde," He mumbled to himself. He plastered a serious look to his face as he turned on his heel to see the brown haired girl making a bee-line for him. "Look, I don't know what you want, but can you-Mmf!" The last part an incoherent mumble as Sienaerde stepped forward and pressed her lips against his.

Her arm wrapped around his waist and her hand grasping his dirty blonde hair she elicited soft sensuous moans which ran pleasantly through Automne's body. The world failed to melt away under him, on account of how utterly stupefied Automne was, but the soft sensual moan she produced as she pulled away almost caramelized Automne from the inside-out. Calmly, Sienaerde withdrew, her hands slithering across Automne's body and face as she did.

She stopped to pull her brown, cocoa colored hair back into a tight bun. Once she had finished she pulled a glove from her jacket pocket and slapped it across Automne's face. "That's for not inviting me to your Christmas party." She said with a sour smile as she pushed the glove into Automne's pocket. "Return that when you can." She whispered before casually walking off.

"Wha… What just happened?" An utterly confused Automne slurred, glancing over his shoulder to confirm that Sienaerde wasn't a figment of his imagination.

"Automne," An equally astonished Eve yelped. "Let me wear your scarf, please!" She politely demanded, her hands darting to the fabric around his neck.

"Why do-" Automne stammered as her small hands swiftly unraveled the scarf and swiped it away.

"I'm chilly and you've said before that it's technically mine." Eve said quickly, wrapping the scarf around her neck and pulling it up to her face.

"O-Okay…" Automne stuttered, uncertain as to what exactly was happening.

"Now, let's head back to the dorm. An-and I think we should hold hands, sss-so we don't get separated on the way back." Eve tried to reason in a high pitched squeak as she wrapped herself around his arm, ushering him through his pure bewilderment.

* * *

"That idiot!" Petunia shouted, glaring at Automne through the crowd. "Why didn't he kiss Eve when he had the chance?! What do I have to do to make those two have sex?!"

"I feel like I should be concerned about your obsession with making those two a thing,… but I'm not." Ty shrugged with a half-smile as he lifted a potato chip into his mouth. "So, do you wanna go get some coffee or-"

"Dude, it was just a kiss. You know the saying; 'What happens at the New Year's party-'"

"'Stays at the New Year's party… And isn't technically canon.'" Ty said with a disappointed frown. As disappointment began to set in he looked down at his chips and gave them a grin. "At least I still have you shawarma flavored chips."


	5. Lazy Day Relationship Counseling

October 17th

Ten weeks into the first semester

* * *

With the sun contently perched at its peak in the sky and with every student wandering about with cancelled classes Beacon Academy was ready to experience one of its more relaxing days. Naturally, this warm mid-autumn lazy day had a couple nonparticipants who refused to socialize and enjoy the outdoors like normal people. And on this fine day two such social rejects, who had cooped themselves up in their dorm room, were a pair by the names of Petunia Kapelle and Automne Ombre Noire.

Silently the two lounged around their dorm room. Petunia happily tapping away at her lavish desktop set-up on her desk while Automne sat with a gloomy expression in his mattress fort. Loudly Petunia's fingers smacked against the keys on her keyboard as Automne drew in a deep breath and let out a long, "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh,"

Like a brick from an air balloon the slightly amused smile Petunia had had on her lips just a moment before dropped to an annoyed frown.

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh," Automne reapeated, causing Petunia to glare over her shoulder at the fort established between his bed and his own desk.

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh," Automne moaned again, rubbing his head against the mattress ceiling, haphazardly supported by his bedframe and a pair of chairs. "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-"

"Dude!" Petunia shouted, furiously pulling her gaze from her desktop to glare at Automne, who was comfortably lounging on a pile of pilfered pillows. "Shut up!"

"No, I'm unhappy." Automne replied with a scowl, his face resting in his hand and his leg propped up in the shape of a relaxed triangle. "Eve and I were supposed to hang out in here and make mattress forts, but she decided to go jogging instead."

"Well, maybe you should of went with her, you lazy ass."

"You know I don't jog." Automne replied with a repulsed hiss as the notion of recreational jogging came into discussion.

Unfortunately for Automne, Petunia could not care less about his hatred of jogging. Without a second thought she spun back around to bury her face in an anime dating simulator which was really just hentai with mini-games. "Whatever man, just don't expect me to join you in that thing."

Automne's expression soured at the thought. "You're not allowed in my fort after what you did to Mr. SlippyFins the other day."

Petunia's eyebrow shot up, as she shot him a surprised glance. "Are you still mad about the stupid thing with the eel?"

"His name was Mr. SlippyFins and I was going to cook him for Eve."

"You could've gotten another eel!" Petunia said with a disinterested wave.

"Eve picked him out specifically and she wanted me to cook him for her." Indignation heavy in his tone as he aimed his finger at her, only to let it fall a second later. "Besides eels are surprisingly expensive."

"This still feels like your fault."

"You threw him on the floor!"

"You put him in my shirt!"

"He fell in your shirt when you knocked his tank over!"

"That tank was too close to the edge of the counter!"

"You're an eel murderer!" Automne shouted with a passionately pointed finger that he let fall to the ground with almost no dramatic tension. Things got a tad stranger though, for rather than lob another insult or demand some kind of apology like a whiny child he gave a sigh and rolled over to face away from the blue-haired eel murderer.

Slightly caught off-guard, Petunia looked him over with a genuine curiosity. He seemed a tad more mopey than usual and something about his whole mattress fort nonsense seemed a bit ridiculous even for him. Usually she'd leave it be, but since he was the only distraction in the room and considering the whole thing read like a neon sign saying 'This will be worse later' she figured she might as well bring it up.

With a resigned sigh she rolled her shoulders and said. "What's wrong?"

To which Automne replied with the tried, but true. "Nothing,"

Petunia gave a heavy groan. "I'm not doing this, dude. Something's wrong, so just tell me and get it over with."

There was a short pause. "Promise you won't tell Eve."

Petunia gave a single chuckle, the very idea that he'd be hiding something from Eve surprising her. "Why, what're you-"

"Do you want me to tell you-"

"Alright, alright don't get in a twist, dude. I won't tell 'er." Petunia said with a wave as she turned her chair around to stare at Automne's back.

Automne paused again, in the brief melodramatic way that he always did, before he turned over onto his back to stare up at his mattress. He gave a short sigh, "It's… I've been texting this girl that Eve told me not to text."

Petunia leaned back in her chair. "Who is she?"

"No one you know, and none of your business." Automne snapped defensively before continuing in a much more calm voice. "We've been- me and that girl have been going back and forth for a couple weeks now, but I think she's not interested. She hasn't texted me back in like two days and I'm not trying to be clingy, but I miss hearing from her and I don't know if she's just moved on, or is busy or… what."

Petunia gave a shallow sigh and crossed her legs. "Well… She could be super Dust-damn busy and just hasn't had enough time to text you."

"That statement sounds like it has an 'or'."

"There's an 'or'."

"Crap." Automne said softly.

"Or," Petunia started with a large frown. "She's just not interested and she's ignoring you."

Automne stared miserably into his mattress. Slowly he placed his hands together atop his belly and gave a sigh.

Petunia's lips twisted into a small frown as she continued to stare at him. "Those are only a couple of possibilities dude. Doesn't mean she ain't still interested. She could've just lost her Scroll for all we know."

Automne's lips tried to shift into an optimistic half-smile, but couldn't manage the feat. "Yeah… It's a possibility." He mumbled as he continued to stare into his mattress.

There was a brief moment of silence as Petunia stared down at the distraught loser. Pursing her lips she leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees. "Hey, Automne."

"Yep," He replied with a light pop of the lips.

"Have you ever considered asking Eve out?"

Automne shut his eyes and rolled them beneath their lids. "Eve?"

"Y'know, Eve, the nerdy, upbeat raven haired girl who follows you pretty much everywhere?"

Automne shook his head and gave her a dry reply. "No, I'm not asking Eve out."

"Well why the hell not?!"Petunia screamed at him throwing her arms up in the air.

"Because I don't feel like it, that's the hell why!"

"Oh come on, you two get along like you're a pair of rabbits in heat!"

"First of all," Automne shouted as he got into a seated position. "No! Second, if she heard you say that, she'd kick your head off."

"She'd do the same to you if I told her you were texting some random chick she told you to avoid."

"Which is why you're not going to do that." Automne's tone falling somewhere between threat and demand.

"I won't, if you ask her out."

"I don't want to ask Eve out."

"Why not?!"

"Because!" Automne stopped to bite into his lip, his frustration mellowing to a simmer as he tried to turn emotion into logic. "Because…" He said slowly. "I don't want to ruin our friendship without knowing that we'll both be happier afterwards." Automne stopped and stared at his knees, which he quickly raised up to his chin. "Eve and I get along great, and I think she's… attractive, but Eve's my best friend and I don't want to ruin what we have… Besides, she's not interested, and there are other things anyways." Automne fell silent so he could quietly blush and reflect upon the idea that Eve and him could be anything more than friends.

"Dude, you're the reason my fanfiction is fanfiction." Petunia replied, casually slicing through his angst.

"I told you to stop writing those!"

"And I'm telling you grow a pair and bone her!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"We're friends!"

"Then don't be friends!"

"What are you two yelling about?" Eve asked calmly from the doorway, causing Automne to jump back in surprise.

"Eve-ah-uhm wh-when did you get here?" Automne stammered like someone who was clearly not making an effort to try and hide something.

"I just opened the door. What were you two arguing about?" Eve asked tiredly as she walked over to the curtain and pulled it shut before heading over towards her bed.

Petunia shot Automne a wide smirk. "Do you want to tell her, or-"

" **WE** , weren't arguing about anything of significance and it can be completely forgotten after right now, because we are all such good **friends**." Automne growled at Petunia, accentuating every word he felt like he'd need to hammer into her.

"Hmm yeah sure," Petunia said distractedly. "Hey Eve, why don't you let Automne take you out on a date?"

"I will murder you." Automne softly hissed as Petunia turned to him and gave him a thumbs up.

"Petunia, stop it." Eve's soft offended voice called out from the other side of the curtain. "Automne and I are j-just friends and we don't appreciate your-your harassment." Eve fumed as she came out from behind the curtain wearing bag grey cardigan and a pair of blue jeans. "And aside from that, I'm not even interested in a relationship right now. I have more important things to worry about than dating."

Petunia's attention wandered as if she were taking in Eve's words. Thoroughly running them through her brain and weighing what she had said against everything Automne said. Or at least that's what it had seemed like until she snapped her fingers and shouted: "Things like having sex with Automne!"

"Wha-no! How did you even manage-"

"Eve, forget it," Automne interrupted, directing a venomous glare towards Petunia. "She's crazy."

"At least I'm not crazy enough to pass up good things." Petunia said with a shrug, before spinning back around so she could dawdle about on her computer.

Automne simply shook his head while Eve partook in some intense blushing.

Eve with her cheeks puffed out quietly stepped over towards Automne's mattress fort and knelt down in it beside the young Huntsman. There she leaned back against the bedframe and sat down by his side. Pulling her thighs up to her chest she hugged them tightly and remained silent for a few more minutes before saying: "I like your mattress fort."

Automne gave her a warm smile and rested his legs on the crossbeams of the support beam chairs. "Thank you, I knew you'd like it."

Eve looked up at the cushiony roof before turning to Automne and giving him a soft smile. "Do you think you can help me make one?"

"Sure, maybe afterwards we can go walk around Vale, maybe see a movie?" Automne suggested with a polite smile.

"Alright," Eve said with a giggle as she poked her fingers together. "A-and if you don't mind maybe you could make dinner tonight. I was kind of in the mood for spaghetti."

Automne gave her a broad grin. "Alright, and I'll be making the sauce as well, so don't expect me to do the laundry tomorrow."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Eve huffed, turning her periwinkle eyes towards him with a hostile glare.

"It means every time I make the sauce you decide to drink it down like a crazy person and you end up getting it all over your clothes."

"No I do not."

"Oh yes you do."

From there it descended it pointless, but ultimately harmless bickering. All of which Petunia completely ignored as she internally raved about how the two wallflowers were perfect for each other, and how it was only be a matter of time before they were rubbing their flower bits together to make flower babies.

"This'll be great for the next chapter of my fanfic." Petunia mumbled to herself as she imagined their pollen flowing back and forth.

"What did we say about your fanfic?!" Eve's soft shout piercing her delusional little world.

"No one can sink this ship!"


	6. Nap Time Issues

A small tired moan softly rose from Eve and quietly disappeared into the warm air of her dorm. Laying fully clothed on her bed she rolled onto her side and gave another small moan.

The soft light of late afternoon seeping through a crack in the blinds fell upon her face like a blanket. The light caressed and swaddled her as her lean muscles, covered by wrinkled clothes, flexed and twitched.

Air seeping into her she gave another small moan. Her voice however was concealed beneath the sound of her clothes brushing against her bedspread. "Mmmm," She moaned in protest as rays of light tickled her eyelids and made them jitter.

Defiantly resisting consciousness, Eve buried her face into her pillow and rolled over to face away from the light. Regardless of her efforts though, the damage had been done. A few brief moments of exposure were all it took to dash the splendors of sleep from her mind and body. All she could manage to do at this point was close her eyes and wishfully pray that she'd lull herself back into her nap.

"Hnnnnnn," Eve groaned through her throat, upset by the abrupt end to her dozing. She knew it was over and she didn't try to hide it. She could feel her heartrate rising, and minor things like her clothes rubbing into her or some strange tension on her head were beginning to bug her.

Eve internally gave a sigh as she wrapped her arms around her pillow and aggressively snuggled it. _'I don't want to get up. I'm still kind of tired.'_ With another small moan Eve dragged her legs across her bed until her thighs were nestled against her stomach, her dainty, white socks gently brushing against the sheets as she did.

As she tried to curl herself into a ball though, a series of sharp cricks, much akin to needles being drive through her with a hammer, ran up her back and into her neck.

"Mhnnnnn," Eve groaned, rolling onto her stomach and burying her face deep into her pillow.

"I hate this mattress." Eve mumbled into her pillow, her breath giving life to her taste buds which immediately lurched in disgust. Eve squinted in revulsion and smacked her tongue against the roof of her mouth as she tried to brush away the foul taste of sleep.

"Great; my back is sore, my breath smells, my clothes are all wrinkled," her complaints becoming increasingly frivolous as she peeped out from behind her pillow to glare at her slacks. "And my head hurts. How could this possibly get any worse?"

And just then the door to the dorm exploded and Cyborg Petunia, the mechanically augmented super weeaboo burst in carrying a naked Professor Goodwitch in her mechanized arms. "Eve get up! The prom is tomorrow and we still haven't found a dress that will make Automne fall in love with you!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, sunlight refracting of her orange aviators to make vibrant dancing rainbows.

"Petunia, I told you Automne and I are just friends!" Eve responded with a frustrated glare, the dancing rainbows hurting Eve's eyes.

"I have no respect for your personal boundaries or any decisions you make in regards to your social life and thus will ignore everything you just said!" Petunia screamed. Spinning Goodwitch in her arms like a guitar she flung the woman onto her back and quickly pulled Automne from a pile of rubble and held him aloft by his scarf. "Look at this lovely piece of nerd! I know you only see him as a friend, but I'm going to constantly badger you about pursuing an intimate relationship with him anyways! In fact, if I weren't so obsessed with harassing my friends about their relationships I probably would have already been able to form a lasting relationship of my own that went beyond one or two dates! But enough about me! Buy real estate on his cock!"

"Hey, Eve." Automne said with a polite wave. The fact that he was hanging by his neck not disturbing him in the slightest as he pulled a hot, steaming tray of brownies out of the rubble. "I made dessert if you want some." His offer coming with a casual smile.

Exasperated Eve gave a sigh as she cradled the sides of her face. "Not right now, but thank you Automne."

"Love this handsome, hunk o' nerd!" Petunia screamed as she shook Automne wildly, her sleek mechanical arms shimmering with the glow of a sun.

"Gee Petunia," Automne chirped with a smile as he pulled a jug of milk from the rubble. "You sure are _milking_ this whole relationship angle."

"Automne stop being witty and charming!" Eve shouted as he began to burst into giggles because of his own pun.

"I'm sorry for upsetting you, Eve. Let me do something that will either worsen the situation or make literally everything better." Automne's apology washing into Eve's heart like cool bathwater.

Eve gave a loud groan as their kerfuffle devolved into a full on emotional assault. How many times was she going to have to make this argument? How many times was she going to have to reexamine her relationship with Automne? How many hours did she need to spend questioning what was normal and what was special? And how much longer was the goat that Ty was riding going to keep chewing on her hair?!

"I am also here." Ty said from atop his giant goat.

"Mah!" Said the goat, Eve's long luscious hair clamped between its teeth.

Eve gave an absolutely distressed groan, her body aching and her mind quaking as she curled into the fetal position and swayed back and forth like a tire-swing. "Oh bother." She whimpered in surrender.

"Ms. Howlite," The nude Professor Goodwitch said soulfully from atop Cyborg Petunia's shoulders. "It's alright to be uncertain of how you feel. Change is one of the only inevitabilities we as a people can foresee and that is what makes our lives special." Eve's white eyes darted up towards the Professor and witnessed as the universe began to expand behind her. "What is here today could be gone tomorrow, never to be seen again. Or something that is familiar can altered to create an entirely different outlook upon the world. To question what we have is a necessity; if we are to evolve and grow we must first recognize this. For without this we are lost to the wind; forever to be whipped about with no sense of direction.

"Ms. Howlite, the world is something we firstly form from within, so let us not make it something familiar. For while familiarity is comfortable, and comfort may be something you seek one day, you are too young to be comfortable. Disturb your emotions and take a risk here and there. I am not saying seek out trouble or risk your own heart, be adventurous in the sake of self-fulfillment. Question what is established, form your own happiness, and then bestow that upon the people you then love without question."

Eve stared through Professor Goodwitch, her mind churning and her insides sloshing. "Professor, I don't quite understand all of what you said."

"That's fine, neither do I." Professor Goodwitch happily replied. "I'm just repeating everything you read from that philosophy textbook earlier, albeit a bit more profound since I'm both an authority figure you respect, and naked."

"Wait what?"

"So no one told you life was gonna to be this way," Goodwitch sang cheerfully.

 **CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP**

* * *

"Huh?!" Eve gasped as she jolted awake. Panting heavily, her eyes rapidly darted around the poorly lit student lounge.

"Whoa, you alright?" Ty, comfortably seated beside Petunia, asked from across the suede couch. A bowl of popcorn sitting contently between the two.

"H-hu- eh y-yeah." Eve stammered, her eyes fixed on the T.V. as the theme to "Friends" played over the opening credits. "I just…" Eve paused and took a deep breath, her eyes flitting over towards Petunia and Ty. "I just had a weird dream."

There was a short pause while Eve tried to catch her breath and make out what exactly happened in her dream.

"You mean like a sex dream?" Petunia chimed curiously as she stuffed a handful of popcorn into her mouth.

Eve gave a heavy sigh and rolled her eyes. "No it wasn't a sex dream, it was… H-hey," Eve's thoughts halting mid-sentence as she realized her hair had been braided while she slept. "Who braided my hair?!" Eve squeaked in befuddlement.

"Automne did it." Petunia and Ty droned in unison, their eyes glued to the T.V. screen until they realized they had just reached the perfect opportunity to yell: "Jinx!" at each other.

Absolutely shocked Eve pulled her long, dark, braided hair over her shoulder to stare at it. The surprising part is that it wasn't half bad.

"Yoyoyo, Noire is back in the hiz-house." Automne softly cheered with a stupid grin as he walked into the lounge, a couple glass bottles of his fruit-cream concoction in hand.

"Why did you braid my hair while I was asleep?!" Eve softly shouted at him, the braid still laid over her shoulder.

"Oh," Automne replied, his expression somewhere between frightened and amused. "I uhhhh… I wanted to see what your hair looked like when it was in a braid." More than a bit of shame appearing in his absolutely large smirk

"He also combed it." Petunia mumbled before throwing her head back to take a hit of whip cream.

"Don't forget the back rub." Ty added, stuffing his mouth full of popcorn.

"Don't believe that last part! That was a lie, I did not rub your back!" Unrestrained laughter making Automne's plea a little less believable.

"Why were you combing my hair?!"

"I needed to straighten it so I could braid it!"

"You are not allowed to touch me like that! Especially when I'm asleep!" Eve asserted, her gloved fingers lightly cradling her braid.

"Are you kidding?" Petunia chuckled through a mouthful of food. "He does this stuff all the time."

"That's a lie! Eve, don't believe them!" Automne pleaded as he tried to perform calming hand gestures while clutching his bottles.

Eve gave a loud growl and jumped up from her seat. "Why did you think it would be okay to do this?!" She snapped quickly darting over to Automne to deliver unto him a scolding which would make every previous scolding pale in comparison to this emotionally fueled word wallop.

Petunia, naturally pleased with herself, gave a content smirk as she watched the two descend into bickering. "Who needs Rachel and Ross when we got these two, am'I'right?"

"I swear if I miss another one of Phoebe's jokes, somebody's going to die." Ty grumbled through a mouthful of popcorn and whip cream.


	7. You Gotta Be Kitten Me

"Hey, Eve." Automne said, a smile on his face as he walked into their dorm holding a small glass plate in one hand. "I was making myself some lunch, and I had some tuna left over, so I figured I'd-" His proposal of sharing a finely crafted tuna sandwich came to an abrupt halt. While he didn't plan out this entire conversation he did form a few expectations, most involving him walking up to Eve's bed and offering her a sandwich. None of those expectations however included him walking up to Eve's bed and talking to a sleepy, white and black cat instead of his human best friend, who was not a cat.

So this encounter was already off to a rocky start.

"Meow." The cat laying comfortably upon the bed responded, its tail swaying laxly as it stared at Automne.

"Cat?" Automne said, more than a tad confused by the lack of Eve and abundance of cat.

' _This is… weird.'_ Automne thought to himself as he stared at the dozy-eyed cat. _'Why's there a cat on Eve's bed? She's allergic to cats, I thought she wouldn't want one in here.'_ His eyes slowly scanning the feline.

The cat was also doing its fair share of examining, and as soon as the cat realized the sandwich Automne was holding was filled with the delicious meat of the tuna fish it widened its silvery eyes and gave him a much more attentive stare.

' _Something is definitely off about this.'_ He said internally, his eyes becoming snagged upon the cat's moon like irises. _'Wait a minute…'_ Squinting hard he focused on the cats soft, almost white, eyes.

Automne gave a large gasp. "Eve, you're a cat!" Automne shouted his hands gripping his small plate tightly while the cat continued to stare at him. "Oh my Dust, Eve how did this happen? Have you always been a cat, or is this a new thing?" A clear amount of astonishment diluting Automne's sensible side until he appeared to be nothing more than a frazzled teenager questioning a cat about its life as a teenage girl. "Like… is this a Faunus thing? Are you a Faunus? Have you been hiding things from me?"

"Meow." The cat responded in such a way that it could be confused for hostility.

"What?" Automne shrugged shamefacedly, "Was that kind of racist?"

The cat gave another aggressive: "Meow."

"You're right, sorry about that." Automne said as he seated himself on Eve's bed. Placing the sandwich off to the side he turned to the cat and gave it a sad, concerned frown. "I'm sorry about accusing you of keeping secrets too, but what happened? Why are you a cat?"

In a gesture that Automne mistook for an answer, the cat rolled over onto its back and began purring.

"You were asleep when it happened? Oh crap… Well, I guess that means we don't have any hints about how this happened. And I don't really know what we're supposed to do in this situation." Stress piling onto Automne as he began to tried to process this dilemma. "I mean, I like cats, so we can still be friends, but since you're a cat you can't be a Huntress. And Beacon doesn't let students keep pets. And I don't even know how we're going to explain this to your parents."

Automne paused for a moment to look over the now bored cat. He swiftly averted his gaze after a couple seconds though. "Also you're naked, and you've always had a weird thing about decency that made you sound like a prude. But now you're just completely naked and I don't know if you're okay with that or not since you're a cat and cats don't usually wear clothes."

Around this point Automne began to launch into a long angst riddled ramble about how he might be able to make her clothes which, obviously, the cat didn't mind a single word of. Instead it chose to focus on a small clump of dust that had just landed upon its small, pink nose. And, as particles of dust often do, this elicited a delicate sneeze from the cat.

"Bless you." Automne said quickly, ready to launch back into his incessant rambling about cat-pants when another horrifying thought came to mind. "Eve, are you allergic to yourself?!"

A bit of dust still on the bridge of its nose, the cat gave another soft sneeze.

"By the Dust, Eve I'm so sorry for you; this must be hell." Ceaseless torrents of woe bashed Automne's spirit as thoughts of a miserable cat Eve covered his mind like so much fine, irritating cat dander.

' _No, I will have none of this!'_ His voice ringing through the vast chasms of his mind.

"Eve," confidence and determination building in his body as he looked down at his feline friend. "I promise you, I'll figure out how to turn you back into a human, or my name isn't Automne Ombre Noire."

"Meow." The jubilation clear in the cat's response as it rolled off its back and sauntered over to Automne's lap.

"Wha- Bu- Eh- Eve, what're you-" Automne's face burning a bright red as the cat began to rub itself against his crotch.

' _This isn't like her. She usually keeps to her own personal space.'_ Automne said to himself as the cat exposed its belly to him. _'This must have something to with her cat hormones mixing with her teenage girl hormones! She must think I'm her mate!'_

"Eve this is really weird, and I know this isn't all you, but we're gonna have to sort some stuff out once you're a human!" He exclaimed as he lifted the cat from his lap and set it aside. "I need to go figure out how to fix this, you stay here! Eat that tuna sandwich if you get hungry; I made it for you."

And on that note Automne bolted from the room. But then a thought came to mind and he ran straight back. "On second thought, don't eat that sandwich! I don't know if cats can eat bread!" He paused. "Maybe you could eat the meat, but there's mayonnaise in that and I don't know if that's okay with cats either." He gave another short pause. "You know what, just don't eat that sandwich! I'll get you some cat food! I'll be back later!" And with that said he bolted off again.

A couple moments later the cat rose to its feet and walked over to the plate. Ignoring Automne entirely it began to noisily lick at the tuna hanging out the side of the sandwich. And it continued to drag its coarse, pink tongue against the tuna even after Ty and Petunia had entered the room.

"There it is." Petunia said, walking over to Eve's bed and picking up the cat. "Hey, free food."

"Yep, that's the cat." Ty remarked nonchalantly. He looked it over curiously as Petunia tucked it under one arm so she could pick up and eat the sandwich with her other. "You said you found it in here?"

"Yeah, it came through the window and fell asleep on Eve's bed." Petunia mumbled through a mouthful of tuna. "Now, let's get this pussy back to those lesbians, so Eve can stop buggin' us."

"Lesbians sure do love themselves some pussy." Ty remarked with a large grin as the two turned and headed for the door.

"Who doesn't love pussy?"

"Gay dudes."

"What a bunch of queers." A satisfied smirk on Petunia as she took another bite of her sandwich.

"Eyyyyyyyyy, you're gonna trigger me!" Ty laughed as they closed the door behind them.

* * *

 **Don't worry everybody, after some thorough vacuuming to get rid of all that cat dander Eve was FELINE PURR-fect.**

 **... My friends don't talk to me anymore... Don't worry ,I'm only KITTEN... I'm not though...**

 **-CS**


	8. Laundry Day Blues

"Automne!" Eve softly shouted at the dirty blonde as he pushed in the door. "We need to talk." Her frumpy expression immediately driving Automne to consider worst case scenarios.

Automne's hands shot up defensively. "If this is about those office supplies under my bed, I swear, I didn't steal all of it!"

"What? No," Eve's gaze wandered for a second. "Wait, what do you mean 'all of it'?"

"Umm…"

"Never mind, we can deal with that some other time. I want to talk to you about our laundry issue."

With a pointed finger Eve directed Automne's gaze to the mountain of a laundry pile sleeping in the corner of the room. Aside from it being an absolute eyesore due to its sheer lack of color coordination (Seriously, white-flower print underwear, purple socks, and faded gray t-shirts, are so last season) it also had the strong, unpleasant odor of sweat mixed with dirt. The mild undertones of blood and teenage fluids could also be detected by those with the sharpest of noses.

"Oh yeah, that." Automne said. "I've been meaning to-"

"Why haven't you taken care of it?!" Eve huffed with the crossing of her arms.

"What?! Hey, don't yell at me, I'm suffering here too!" Automne held his sleeves out for Eve. Thick, dark brown stains were spackled all across his sweater's cuffs and forearms. "This was my last clean sweater and I ended up getting it all barbecue-y after we had those ribs last night."

Eve recoiled in horror. The mere sight of unclean sleeves simply too much for her heart, and as such she was left aghast. "Automne take that sweater off, it's filthy. What would people think if they saw you walking around like that?"

"I can't take it off; I'm not wearing a shirt."

Oxygen poured out of Eve's lungs as he flabbergasted her yet again. "Why aren't you wearing a shirt under your sweater?"

"I ran out of clean shirts!"

"Then do the laundry!"

"It's not my turn to do the laundry. I had laundry last week; it's Petunia's turn to do the laundry!" Automne exclaimed defensively.

"Yoyoyo, did someone say my name?" Petunia said as she pushed the door open. With a lackadaisical grin on her face and a large bucket of chicken wings tucked between her elbow and her chest she certainly embodied the personality of filthy laundry.

Thus, Eve changed targets. "Petunia, why haven't you done the laundry?!"

"What?" The chicken-wing eater – who, for some reason, smelled faintly of marijuana – replied.

"You let the laundry pile up and now we're running out of clothes." Eve clarified, her frumpy expression now turning into a frown of disapproval.

"Pfft, are you kidding?" Petunia said, an amused smirk bending the corners of her mouth upwards as she lifted a chicken-wing, dripping with thick buffalo sauce, from her bucket. "Automne let it pile up last week and then he passed it off on me. I ain't gonna do his work for 'im."

"Hey, don't blame this on me!" Automne barked at Petunia as soon as he realized Eve had turned her glare back to him. "I did the laundry on Tuesday, and then we had that whole mess with the mud fight on Friday. I wasn't going to do two loads in one week."

"Yeah, you were just going to pass it all off onto me. Screw that noise, I'll just let Ty do it. Besides it's his turn in another few days, so what's the problem?" Petunia said without a care, the mangled mush of her half-chewed chicken exposing itself to them as she spoke.

This however was not flying for Eve whose cheeks had begun to turn an infuriated pink. "I can't wait a few days for the laundry, I need it done today!" She whined with the light stomping of her foot.

"Jeez what's got you in a fuss? Favorite t-shirt sittin' in the hamper?" Petunia asked with a mean-spirited smirk.

"No, it's just-" Like a stove top heating up Eve's cheeks slowly brightened until they were burning red. Embarrassed she crossed her arms and looked down at the ground huffily before shyly whispering. "I'm out of underwear."

Naturally, both Automne and Petunia dropped their gazes to Eve's crotch.

A large smirk spread across Petunia's face. "Like, all out?"

A disturbed little frown popped onto Automne's face. He quickly cast a few suspicious glances between the two girls. _'I feel like I know where this is going.'_

Eve's thighs scraped together nervously as she actively tried to maintain her focus on the ground. "Yes, I'm entirely out of underwear."

' _Pretty certain that's where this is going.'_

Petunia's smirk threatened to extend off of her face. "So like, you don't have any underwear left?"

' _Aaaaaand that's where we're going.'_

"No, and I refuse to wear a pair more than once. So, could you please- AH, Petunia!" Eve screamed out in shock after Petunia tossed one of her sauce-soaked wings at Eve's slacks.

"Oh no," Petunia said with all the enthusiasm of someone who just found out that the show they hated more than anything in the world had just been canceled. "Clumsy me. Here, let me get you out of those pants." Petunia offered, already extending a hand towards Eve's crotch.

"No! I am not going to take these pants off!" Eve said with a scowl, waving her hands frantically to fend off her teammate.

There was a brief pause as the three fell silent. They gave each other a few uncertain glances, and then Petunia shoved her hand into her bucket of chicken, grabbed about three to five pieces, and calmly flung them at Eve.

"Petunia!" Eve screeched, her eyes quickly running over her sullied white clothes.

"You're gonna need some help outta those." Petunia replied simply, licking sauce from her fingers.

Automne gave a heavy sigh. "Okay, that's enough." His input coming a tad late in Eve's opinion. "Petunia, piss off." Automne said with a dismissive wave before turning to Eve. "Eve, I'll help you do some laundry, and until we get you some clean clothes I'll lend you something to wear."

"Back off jackass, her virginity is mine!" Petunia screamed as she leapt onto Automne's back, throwing her elbow around his throat in an effort to silence him.

"GAH, get off me you crazy lesbian!" Automne shouted through chokes while he attempted to drive his elbow back into her ribs.

"Hey, knock it off! Stop fighting!" Eve demanded. But after taking a moment to realize her words had done absolutely nothing to remedy the situation she began to look around for a better solution.

Eve's eyebrows fell to a furrow at the sight of Petunia's chicken bucket. Stooping down in a flash she picked up Petunia's discarded chicken bucket and began tossing savory, succulent wings at her friends, who were well into the act of bashing each other senselessly. "Stop it!" Eve said, sauce flying everywhere as the wings smacked into them.

But, as if the universe had not met its localized chaos quota for the day, the door to the dorm suddenly burst open and Ty shuffled in with his arms wrapped around an older dark haired woman. His lips quickly retracted from the woman's as he and his teammates turned to each other and stared. The sudden extravagant – and slightly erotic – entrance naturally earned Ty and his lady friend, who had just been sucking on each other like lampreys, a fair amount of scrutiny.

"Hey, Ty." Petunia said with the kind of lilt in her voice that meant she was judging him. "We interruptin' anythin'?"

With a heavy aggravated sigh, Ty removed an arm from around his disheveled lady friend and gestured to his teammates. "Carmen, these are my teammates; guys, this is Carmen. Now, if you three don't mind, get the hell out."

"Hey, wait a minute." Automne chimed in surprise. "Aren't you the school psychologist?"

Shock ran through Carmen's expression. "No, no, you must have me confused for someone else." She insisted as she removed herself from Ty's arms and slowly made for the door. "That is my… sister…" She let the thought hang in the air for a second before walking away without another word.

Automne, Petunia, and Eve all stared at Ty for a moment before Automne and Petunia began to give him impressed nods of approval.

"Nicely done." Automne said, Petunia still hanging off his back.

"Yeah, she's pretty much a bombshell." Petunia added. "She could use a bit more ass, but-"

"You jackasses! Do you know how long it took me to convince her to come back here?!" Fire dancing in Ty's eyes as he prepared to pounce on the two.

 **POMP POMP POM**

"Be quiet! I'm trying to sleep in here!" A girl shouted through the wall after giving it a few bangs.

"Don't you tell us what to do!" Ty shouted back, making certain to respond in a louder tone.

"Yeah, shut up Mato!" Automne yelled, joining his partner in the effort to silence their neighbor.

"I'm going to file a report against you!" The girl called back with a little less fervor.

"Don't even think about it ya' dumb bitch!" Automne shouted with a raised fist.

"You file a report an' we'll kill you!" Petunia screamed, jumping down from Automne's back so she could chuck her shoe at the wall.

"Guys, don't argue with the neighbors." Eve pleaded in an attempt to cool her teammates. "Let's just focus on cleaning up and getting our laundry-"

"We can't think of laundry at a time like this!" Ty shouted dismissively as Automne, Petunia and him advanced across the room towards their neighboring wall. "We gotta defend our right to be loud, obnoxious, irritating neighbors!"

"Yeah!" Automne and Petunia shouted in unison as the noise war with their neighbor began.

Meanwhile – in the background of the long, violent noise war – Eve quietly sat on Automne's bed, trying to ignore the fact that she was covered in buffalo sauce and wasn't wearing any underwear under her pants.

* * *

 **Now, if Y'all will excuse me, I need to go figure out how the wash a shemagh.**

 **-CS**


	9. Up to Tally

' _I really feel like I shouldn't ask,'_ Automne said to himself as he stared at a large simple painting hanging over his bed. _'But if I don't I'll probably die from the stupidity.'_

"What's with this painting?" Automne said to his teammates who were comfortably lounging around the room; clearly not waiting for him to ask.

"Oh, that?" Petunia replied, walking up to him with a proud smirk on her face. "Why that's our tally board." Her open hand guiding his eyes across the canvas with a smooth wave.

Automne pursed his lips and crossed his arms. Sucking back the scent of the paint he gave a small sigh. "And um- what is it a tally of?" He asked, already knowing where this was going.

"Sexual partners since the beginning of the school year,"

"Mhmm," Automne glared at the thick sloppy lettering of the painting. "So, Ty's at five."

"Yep,"

"You're at two."

"A very enjoyable two, I might add." Petunia's smirk beginning to stretch her face as it exceeded its limits.

"And I'm-"

"Virgin," So much satisfaction dripping from Petunia's voice that if the words were actually liquid she could've flooded the school. Even her eyes were teeming with a disgusting amount of delight as she stared at the bold red 'VIRGIN' painted under Automne's name. "I figured a painting would be better than an actual tally board because if we needed to update our scores Ty and I could always just add a dash."

"And what about mine." His voice devoid of life.

"I figured we wouldn't have to update yours anytime soon."

"Mhmm," Automne hummed. "Well then," A chipper tone returning to his voice as he turned and made for the door. "I'm going to go hang myself in the bathroom with my own scarf."

"You have fun with that, virgin." Petunia replied cheerfully, her eyes still glued to her artwork.

* * *

 **Over three months of delays on all my major stories and this is the first thing I come back with... Wah wah.**

 **Sorry everybody, the newest Chapter of TAPE is still in the works and it may take me a while longer. In the mean time I'll try and upload more of these shorts to tide you over.**

 **-CS**


	10. Flowers N Leaves

**Note: This chapter is rated M for: Some suggestive adult themes.**

 **Consider yourself duly noted.**

* * *

"Like, do you ever, kinda, wonder why we're here?"

Petunia, sitting beside Automne under a shady tree, stared off into the middle distance. A small steady stream of smoke rising off the joint that hung between her lips.

If Automne had to guess she was probably staring at a suspicious tree standing a few yards away which, at least in Automne's mind, looked a tad too tree-like to be a tree. Then again all the trees around them looked slightly odd on account of their thinning branches and dying bark. The forest floor was even decorated with dying leaves, the kind that made the nice crunching noise when you stepped on them. But disregarding crunchy leaves, Petunia continued to stare off into the forest.

"Hey," Automne said, snapping his fingers to try to get her attention. "Petunia… Hey, you alive?"

Petunia remained motionless. But before Automne could reiterate, or begin to question what he would do with her dead body, she exhaled a sizeable cloud of smoke and muttered, "What?"

"D'you hear what I said?"

"Nah, I spaced out." Petunia said, her voice considerably more dozy than usual. Taking the joint in her fingers she held it out for Automne and pulled out her Scroll. "What were you sayin'?"

"Something profound and philosophical about life and our place in the universe." Automne replied casually, taking the joint and placing it between his lips. With a small inhale he filled his throat with hot smoke that tickled every centimeter of his trachea. A couple seconds later he burst out coughing.

"Two things;" Petunia remarked as she leaned over to snatch the joint back. "One, you took that like a bitch. And two, what the hell do you have to say that's profound and philosophical?"

"I have a lot to say."

"Oh, well then, pardon me. Please, go on and blow my mind with your profundity."

Automne paused for a second. "Umm… Why… why is North considered up?"

"… What?"

"Like, on globes, and maps, and stuff north is always up. Why isn't it the other way around? Why isn't north down and south up?"

Petunia looked off into the middle distance for a moment. She took a small hit from her joint and slowly exhaled. "I'm going to go out on a limb… and say it has something to do with science."

Automne paused. "Yeah, that's a good enough answer for me."

"Hey…"

"Yeah?"

"What's the most inappropriate thing you've masturbated to?"

Automne let out a loud snort. "I am not answering that." He said while giving his best effort to hold back laughter.

"Why, is it something horrible like children?"

"No," Automne said through his giant smirk. "It isn't children."

"Oh my Dust, you laughed," Petunia responded, somehow managing to keep a completely straight face. "That means it is children."

"Shut up, I don't masturbate to children."

"No, you just rape them."

"Pffffft," Automne trumpeted like a congested pachyderm before bursting into laughter. "We're both going to hell."

"Speak for yourself, child molester." Petunia chuckled.

"Automne! Petunia!"

Automne, still slightly taken aback by the rape allegations, looked up in confusion upon hearing Eve's voice. And when he saw none other than the dark haired, heavily clothed girl wearing an abjectly upset face and standing just a couple yards in front of him, the majority of his amusement shriveled into a giant raisin of discomfort that comfortably lodged itself somewhere between his lungs and stomach. "Eve," Automne's voice a tad hoarse from smoke and sudden self-consciousness. "Heyyyyyyyyyy,"

"What are you doing?!" Eve's question delivered with all the anger that a conservative, well-mannered, polite young woman could muster.

"Smokin' dat good ol' kuuuuuuuuuuuuush." Petunia shamelessly replied, not even remotely surprised by Eve's sudden entrance.

"Petunia, shut up." Automne snapped weakly. Trying to compose himself despite the fact that he knew he was screwed. "Eve, what are you even doing out here?"

"Petunia texted me and said you were in the forest and you needed snacks!" Eve huffed, her arms now crossed and her eyebrows lowered into an unpleasantly stern position.

"Petunia, why did you text her?!"

"Because I'm hungry." Petunia replied.

"Ehck… Y-you know what," Automne started calmly. "As much as I want to, I can't fault you for that. I'm gettin' kind of hungry too." Automne admitted shamefully.

"So Eve, you grab anything good?" Petunia asked, practically oblivious to how livid Eve was.

"No," Eve said in a huff. "I didn't bring you anything."

"Boooo,"

"No 'Boo'; what do you think you're doing? Marijuana is illegal, and we are on school property."

"Oh come on, Eve." Petunia said. "It's just a bit of pot."

"Wait, is the forest school property?" Automne asked. "Because I kind of thought it was public, since it's a forest."

"I think it's just undeveloped land that the school technically owns." Petunia replied, setting the end of her joint aglow as she took another puff.

"Stop smoking in front of me!" Eve shouted stamping on some dead leaves to remind the two that she was still there.

"Oh come on, killjoy." Petunia slowly drew in another breath, the end of her joint turning to a gray ash that crumbled into the grass. In a proud, shameless gesture Petunia pushed out her lips and blew smoke in Eve's direction. Letting her shoulders sag Petunia offered Automne the joint.

Automne's eyes nervously bounced from the joint, held in Petunia's extended fingers, to Eve. Automne was starting to build up a weak immunity to Eve's normal glares, but the underlying level of 'I expected better from you' was burning straight through all his defenses. With a simple hand wave Automne rebuffed Petunia's offer. "L-look, Eve, it's- it's not as bad as you think."

"It's illegal!" Eve scolded, not even mildly deterred.

"It's just a bit of pot." Petunia said casually, taking another small hit from the joint.

"It's bad for you!"

"Ehhhhh, it could be worse." Automne so unsure of himself that he flinched when Eve turned her eyes back to him.

"It damages your lungs. It's bad for your heart and blood pressure. It can have severe effects on mental health!" Eve listed off, her fury becoming more unbridled by the moment.

"Most of that is just propaganda." Petunia said, again offering the joint to Automne. "Dude, are you gonna to have another take, or can I finish it?"

"Petunia, not now." Automne said in his most pointed whisper.

"Marijuana is a gateway drug, and thirty percent of people who use it have dependence issues!"

Automne gave a heavy sigh. "Look, Eve, it's just an occasional thing we do when we have a hard week."

"Occasional?!"

"Dust damn it," Automne whispered.

"How long has this been going on?!" The majority of Eve's hostility directed at Automne.

"It's justa- it's just a couple times. A-a few times." Automne stammered, hands held up in defense.

"About four times; maybe five." Petunia added without the slightest bit of concern for Automne.

"She is high-balling it! We have not done this five times."

"YOU-you-you-you… DRUGGIE!" Eve screeched, stomping her feet into the grass as she curled her twitching fingers into fists. "I'm-I'm… I'm going to tell Ty!" Eve concluded dramatically.

She even gave the two ample time to gasp and repent for their atrocities, but instead of doing any of those things Petunia just went, "Okay, he already knows."

This was actually so shocking to Eve that she had to do a double-take and stammer incoherently to herself for a bit before she could muster a confused, "What?"

"Ty knows that I smoke pot. I don't know if he knows about Automne, but he knows that I do it." Petunia said. "He's actually really lenient about it."

"Yeah, he apparently had an ex-girlfriend who used to sell pot or she was really into it, I don't remember." Automne said, somewhat calmer now that Eve had lost her train-of-rage.

"Eh-bu-but you're-th- No!" Eve stated, struggling to regain her momentum.

"Eve, it's not as bad as you think it is, especially if you just do it on occasions. We really just do it to relax a bit, that's all." Automne said, delicately taking the joint from Petunia. Holding the rolled paper between his index finger and thumb he leaned forward off the tree and extended the smoldering paper out towards Eve. "Why don't you just come over here, sit down, and try just a bit. I swear it's not as bad as you think it is."

Eve, staring at Automne's red eyes, took a small step backwards. Holding her hands against her chest she shook her head, resilient to his offer. "N-no, no, I'm not going to let you try to peer pressure me into this."

"Eve, please, it's… Wait, did you just use 'peer pressure' as a verb?" Automne said with a sardonic lilt as he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Stop mocking me!"

"I will when you stop using nouns as verbs." Automne chuckled.

Eve blushed brightly and threw her trembling hands down to her sides. "Yo-you're unbelievable! I expected better from you!" And with that and another stern look of disapproval she turned around and sprinted off towards the school.

The sound of dry leaves crunching beneath her feet became a soft, distant sound as Automne watched her disappear behind tree-trunks. Slightly depressed by Eve's words Automne took a large hit from the shrinking joint and released a large plume of smoke with a sigh. "You were absolutely no help."

"Eh, it's just pot." Petunia shrugged as she cozied up at the base of the tree. "She won't hold it against you, man."

"I know she won't, but I don't like it when we fight." Automne still looking off into the trees.

"You could probably catch her if you go after her."

"No," Automne sighed, slumping back against the tree. "I'll let her calm down… Do you wanna head back soon, grab something to eat?"

"Nah, not yet, I don't wanna move." Petunia said, sinking into her jacket. "It feels good right here. It's, like, that nice kind of warm and cool right here."

"I know what you mean. Like, the sun is coming down in the right spots, and it just feels nice." Automne said as he closed his eyes and tried to relax in the shade of a thinning tree. Breathing in the smell of dying leaves and smoke Automne tried to wash Eve, school, and other troubling things from his mind for just a short while.

So, Automne took a deep breath and gave a nice heavy exhale as he sank into his warm sweater.

"Hey, dude,"

"Yeah?" Automne mumbled.

"Do you know how to make pork rinds? 'Cause those sound, like, really good right now."

"Oh my Dust, those sound amazing." Automne slurred, slowly sitting up. "I could really go for some of those right now. Maybe some of those fried onions too."

"Hell yeah, let's go get somethin' to eat." Petunia said as she and Automne pushed themselves off the ground and shuffled out of the forest in search of pork rinds, fried onions, and other snacks.

* * *

 **I could really use some Oreo's right about now.**

 **-CS**


End file.
